A new report suggests that New Mutants director Josh Boone may be adapting Stephen King's apocalyptic epic The Stand into a limited TV series. Often cited as one of King's best standalone novels, The Stand tells the tale of what happens to humanity after a man-made "superflu" virus dubbed Captain Trips lays waste to most of the world's population. Those with an immunity to the contagion are soon drawn into one of two opposing survivor camps. The good camp is led by a wise old woman named Mother Abigail, while the evil camp is headed up by the demonic Randall Flagg.
The Stand was of course previously adapted in 1994 as a four-part miniseries event for ABC. Directed by frequent King collaborator Mick Garris, The Stand miniseries was one of the most expensive TV productions to date at that point, sporting high production values and a large ensemble cast. Just some of the notable names included in the cast were Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Miguel Ferrer, Ruby Dee, and even King himself.
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Back in 2014, Josh Boone - then best known for helming The Fault in Our Stars - was brought on to direct a theatrical adaptation of The Stand. This later morphed into a reported plan to adapt the gargantuan novel over the course of four films, which later reportedly became a planned eight-part cable miniseries that would lead into a movie. As of early 2016, Boone's adaptation of The Stand was said to be in a "holding pattern." Well, it looks like that pattern might be over, as King fansite Lilja's Library has brought attention to the following post on King's official forum, in which Boone - or someone pretending to be him - says The Stand is set to become a limited series.
"I am still working on The Stand and will be making it next as soon as New Mutants opens in April as a limited series. I've been working on it for four years and I promise you it will be a faithful adaptation of the book with an incredible cast."
If the poster on King's forum was in fact Boone, what he says lines up with a statement made by King last month, in which the horror master said that there had been "talk about doing The Stand as an extended TV series, possibly for Showtime or CBS All Access." Granted, Boone's purported post uses the word limited, and King uses the word extended, so it remains to be seen just how long a Stand TV series would end up being.
That said, many fans are likely to be disappointed with the prospect of The Stand being adapted once again for the small screen, especially after the smash success of IT showed that there was a large theatrical audience hungry for prime King material. Also, aside from some dodgy special effects and the occasionally hammy performance, The Stand (1994) is still generally regarded by King fans as a good adaptation. If The Stand isn't going theatrical, many may very well argue what the point of doing another TV version is when the first one is already well done.
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Source: Lilja's Library